District 10: The New Slum
by Native Avenger
Summary: Nearly a decade had gone by since Christopher Johnson and his son left Earth to return to his home planet. Without his return, the inhuman population was left stranded in South Africa, and their lives had seen little improvement. But, would it be possible for a small handful of individuals to make a difference?
1. Sympathy

**Kwai kwai nidobak! For many years, I've wanted to write this story, but I kept pushing it aside in favor of other projects, and I wasn't sure if there was going to be a District 9 sequel to contradict the ideas I had for this story. But I've decided that even if a sequel does happen, I'll write this story anyway. I hope everyone enjoys this story. Remember to leave a review or send me a PM!**

Chapter 1: Sympathy

 _February 28_ _th_ _, 2009_

All over the world, everyone knew of the alien mothership that floated over the city of Johannesburg, South Africa. When the infamous ship first arrived back in 1982, every country took an interest in it. The USSR and NATO requested to study and examine the ship's new arrivals, but the South African government denied the two superpowers access to the non-humans. The country's government, along with its allied private military company, kept the creatures locked away from the rest of the country and did their best to keep the non-humans out of sight of others.

The USSR debated invading South Africa in order to get their hands on the non-humans, but the Cold War and their military operations in the Middle East prevented those plans from being acted out. The United States were not only focused on the Cold War, but their own political agendas disallowed them from interfering with the plans of South Africa. But there were rumors that both superpowers sent investigators to South Africa. No one could confirm or denounce that however.

In the end, self-interests and military struggles prevented the world outside of South Africa from learning much about the non-humans. This was the case until the late 2000's. At that time, a single non-human not only managed to salvage a working computer, but it also managed to connect to the internet. No matter how small or even insignificant someone was, they could always be heard through the powers of the human internet. It was the great digitized spider web of information and social media.

Within a small household somewhere in the United States, a twelve year old girl sat by herself in front of an online computer. It was late at night and way past the girl's bedtime, but she liked to watch videos and browse the interwebs at night. Her insomnia saw to that. Normally, she searched for funny videos or amusing posts on various social sites.

The curved face of the old monitor lit up the girl's dark skinned face. She sat comfortably in her one piece pajamas and she kicked her legs in the air as her chocolate colored eyes skimmed across the screen.

The young girl just discovered a blog post on some website titled MNU Spreads Lies. Something about the title caught her interest. She's never even heard of anything called MNU before. She was tempted to skim over the link, like she usually did, but something forced her to click the link. The website was apparently created by someone named Christopher. This man didn't have any profile pictures, but his description explained that he was a non-human from a District 9. The only reason she was familiar with this name was because she heard about it once on the radio while her mother drove her to school.

The young girl read over the non-human's plight. He described how he had two children and how the entire district acted as a slum for his people. Not only that, but his people were constantly abused and that MNU spread false propaganda to show that the non-humans were living peacefully and were being taken care of. That the district's purpose was to protect non-humans. BUt none of that was true. The young girl was horrified reading these things. Her young mind couldn't even process why anyone would treat anybody so poorly. Then she started reading the comments.

Almost every single comment on the web page was a human resident of the neighboring Johannesburg. They all either called Christopher a liar himself or mocked him, calling him a "prawn." Some even went as far as to threaten his life. The few others were fellow non-humans who told him they respected his enthusiasm, but informed him that their people had no hope. Not a single comment praised Christopher for speaking the truth.

All this negativity and words of pure hatred broke the little girl's heart. She had to stiffen a sniff and she briefly looked up towards her bedroom door, making sure that her parents weren't awake to check on her. When she was sure they were still asleep, she looked back at the screen and she scrolled all the way back up to the top. She looked at the profile again and noticed that the blog's creator was actually online. There were also two options she was able to choose right below the profile. She could either leave a comment or send a private message to him.

Online, the young girl always had two rules given to her by her parents. Never leave comments anywhere and don't talk to strangers. But after reading the nasty comments, she forced her mouse over the PM link and clicked the left mouse button. The link quickly brought her to a page that asked her for her name. She bit her lower lip as she debated whether or not to write her real name or a fake one. She inevitably decided to at least type out her first name. Then she started writing her message in the white box to the right of her name. She then pressed the enter key with her heart pounding in her chest.

 _Kelsey: Hello_

 _Christopher: Hello, Kelsey._

Already, Kelsey knew she could get grounded for what she was doing. Her head kept whipping to her door just to ensure herself that her parents weren't going to burst in. Her school and her parents told her horror stories of kids being taken away by scary men on the internet. A quiet sigh escaped her lips and she started typing again with shaky fingers.

 _Kelsey: I just red the stuff you wrote and what others said. Im sorry that so many people are mean to you. Im a human in america and I think MNU are jerks_

 _Christopher: That is very sweet of you, Kelsey. That truly means a lot to me._

 _Kelsey: I wish there was something I could do to help you and your ppl_

 _Christopher: Sadly, there isn't much a single person can do. Especially when they live so far away from here. But it's good to know that my message is reaching places like America. People like you brighten up my day._

 _Kelsey: I promise one day when I grow up I will do something to help_

 _Christopher: Live your life, child. You don't have to do anything if you don't want to. But I must thank you, Kelsey. You've reminded me that there are good humans out there. Now, I must go and tend to my children._

With that, Kelsey was notified that Christopher went offline. She sat back in her chair as she read over the conversation at least three times. She wanted so desperately to help this non-human, but even she knew that there wasn't much a little girl could do for someone who lived on the other side of the world.

The young girl made sure to bookmark the website before she turned off her computer. Now in complete darkness, she got out of her chair and blindly climbed into bed. She pulled the covers over her small body and looked up at the black ceiling. Maybe one day, she could honor her promise. Until then, she closed her eyes in an attempt to get some sleep.

* * *

 _October 2_ _nd_ _, 2018_

Almost a decade had gone by since the non-human mothership left South Africa. When the ship was gone, many of Multination United's ill treatment of the non-humans was exposed for the world to see. And it was all thanks to a now jailed employee named Fundiswa. Public opinion of the military company degraded rapidly outside of Africa. For a while, millions of people demanded the non-humans be freed from their slums and treated better. Unfortunately, public opinion within South Africa itself barely changed, especially in Johannesburg. Violence and acts of terrorism by the so-called prawns greatly hurt the possibilities of compassion for them within the country. And before other countries could step in, talks of global terrorism and political strife quickly distracted the rest of the world. Even with everything exposed, little changed for the non-humans, other than them being forcibly moved to a new district. Like always, the plight of non-humans was ignored by the masses. After all, how can something that isn't even human be treated with human rights?

To one individual, all it would take was a simple reminder that these alien creatures were still suffering. And that they still lived horrible lives. If people were reminded of these tragedies that were taking place, then surely, someone would act.

A plane from the United States had just arrived in the Johannesburg airport. The plane attendants announced to all the passengers that they had landed and were free to leave. As everyone exited the plane, a twenty one year old Kelsey stepped out and into the airport.

Kelsey sported straightened brown hair that reached past her shoulders, and her cheekbones had become more pronounced since she was a little girl. She was a bit short for her age, but she was proud of herself for keeping her body relatively fit with little fat. She wore a simple white tank top with blue jeans and white sneakers. She also donned a light olive green windbreaker jacket during the flight, but she knew the climate of South Africa would make her take off that article of clothing due to the heat. She carried a small carrying case over her shoulder that held her laptop, and she dragged a crimson red bag behind her that was filled with her luggage.

The lone girl chose to travel lightly on her weeklong trip, mostly because her parents didn't approve of her traveling so far away by herself, even though she was old enough to do so. At home, she quickly packed her things and left for the airport early in the morning. She only texted her concerned parents after the plane took flight. They were worried sick about her and demanded she come home as soon as possible, but she explained to them how she needed to do this.

Kelsey sighed softly when she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She didn't bother checking it now, since it was more than likely a text from her mom or dad. She worked hard for months saving up money simply to purchase a ticket. She wasn't going to waste all that work just to immediately go home.

The airport was crowded with people and more than a few of them accidentally bumped into her. Kelsey just wanted to leave as soon as possible. She wandered through the large building and followed the signs until she reached the exit. She took in a lungful of fresh, yet humid, air. Anything was better than the stuffy atmosphere of the plane.

This was the first time the young woman has ever traveled by herself. Not only that, but she's never been outside the United States before. Today was full of firsts for her and she found herself smiling at herself for her accomplishments. The wheels of her luggage bag noisily dragged over the sidewalk she travelled on while she walked. She didn't bother to call a taxi or an uber, for she always preferred to walk anyway.

To her, the city of Johannesburg was beautiful. Many of the buildings seemed to grow taller the further she parted from the airport. Of course, that was to be expected. There were also many people walking the streets, like herself, as well as numerous drivers. If she didn't know any better, she'd say there was never an alien ship hovering over the city almost a decade ago.

A soft grumbling escaped Kelsey's stomach, which brought her out of her sightseeing. She looked around and spotted some kind of dinner across the street from her. She didn't recognize the brand, but she always preferred more independent restaurants over the more well-known places. Plus, there was a red neon sign on the window that read "OPEN." Looking both ways to make sure it was safe, she quickly crossed the street and entered the diner, which caused a small bell to ring above the door.

The diner was a nice, cozy looking place. The floor was tiled in a white and red checker style and the walls were a light gray, almost white shade. There were numerous posters and other memorabilia on the walls. But then Kelsey's brown eyes settled on the only other customers in the diner. There were two men sitting at the counter and eating hamburgers. One had pale white skin and the other was a dark shade of brown, even darker than her own skin tone. They both donned black combat uniforms with bullpup rifles hanging from their backs and pistols holstered at their sides. They also had "MNU" printed in white on their upper arms and shoulders. The girl frowned as she looked at the soldiers. These were the people that made an entire race suffer since way before she was even born.

"May I help you?" a thick African accent caught her attention.

Kelsey looked away from the soldiers and at the man behind the counter, who was bald and wearing an apron. The man looked indifferent to her staring. She slowly walked up to the counter and in an attempt to ignore the soldiers, she looked up at the menu above the cashier's head. Everything available was conveniently written in both English and Afrikaans.

"Um, I'll have a meatball sub, please." she requested as she leaned her bag against the counter.

"Will it be for here or to go?" he questioned.

"Here, please." came her reply as she pulled her wallet out of her pocket.

"That will be eight, ninety nine." the man behind the counter spoke.

"Do you accept credit cards?" she asked hopefully since she didn't deposit any rands from an ATM.

The cashier nodded and pointed at the scanner to the left of the cash register. She quickly pulled the card out of her wallet and swiped it through the scanner before she typed in the PIN number. Once the money went through, she placed her credit card back in her wallet.

"You're food will be ready shortly." the cashier informed her as he handed her a small strip of paper with a number on it.

She pocketed her wallet and took the paper before she looked away to find a seat. She didn't like the idea of being anywhere near those soldiers, but she came here to remind the world how horrible MNU was. So perhaps, she could start by interviewing them. She mentally sighed and pulled out her phone before she turned to tap the pale skinned man on the shoulder.

"Excuse me. Is it alright if I ask you some questions? I'm making a documentary." she asked once the two men turned to look at her.

The pale man had a pair of sunglasses hanging from the collar of his shirt and he looked at her with his blue eyes. His black hair was shaved in the style of a mohawk and he had a neatly trimmed goatee. He was a lot more burly looking than his partner. In fact, he almost looked like a body builder. The dark skinned soldier who sat next to him also looked strong, but not nearly as strong as the one with the mohawk. His head was completely shaved bald, but he had fairly thick eyebrows.

"I'm not answering any questions. Blur my face out in post." the bald soldier spoke sharply before he returned to eating his burger.

"Well, I don't mind answering a few questions for you." the man with the mohawk spoke in a thick accent that was quite foreign to Africa.

Kelsey was actually rather surprised by the man's accent. It sounded almost Scandinavian. Still, he granted her request, so she sat down next to the soldier. She then held up her phone so it was facing him and turned on the camera before she tapped the record button on the touch screen.

"Let's start by introducing ourselves. My name is Kelsey Cavot and I will be interviewing you. What's your name?" she asked him.

The soldier flashed a toothy smile as he set down his hamburger and fully faced her. She couldn't help but smile at this; he seemed to have a much friendlier aura around him compared to his partner. But then she reminded herself that these were not good people and they did horrible things to non-humans. Still though, that smile was contagious.

"I'm Private Jim Faliks and I work for the MNU security force." the muscular man introduced himself.

"How long have you been working for MNU?" she questioned.

"Oh, I'd say the better part of two weeks now." he answered politely as his hand briefly rubbed his chin.

It seemed that this man was full of surprises. Kelsey had to wonder if this man was even aware of the horrible things his company was doing, but she didn't want to anger these people. At least, not when she just arrived.

"Have you ever been inside of District 10?" the short girl decided to ask him.

"I'm actually going there for the first time after I'm done eating. I'm a little nervous, to be honest. But under contract, I'm not allowed to talk about what goes on in the district." he spoke apologetically.

"Why is that?" Kelsey almost demanded, and she mentally scolded herself for speaking so brashly.

"It's for safety reasons, mostly. You see, back in District 9, there was a lot of human gang activity in the district. We're trying to keep crime out of District 10 to protect the non-humans. I should also add that only non-humans and MNU personnel are allowed in the district. I'm sorry, but you won't be able to film the inside of it." the soldier calmly explained, ignoring her outburst.

Kelsey wasn't sure how to feel about that response. It seemed like a bunch of lies and propaganda to her, but that voice seemed way too genuine. She frowned for a moment before she cleared her throat.

"How do you feel about the non-humans?" she questioned.

"I haven't met any yet, but I have nothing against them. I give everyone a fair shake before judging them." Jim replied as his smile returned.

"We should get going now." the private's partner spoke up before he began to stand.

"Alright. Sorry for cutting this short, but I have to go. It was a pleasure, Miss Cavot." the pale man smiled as he held out his hand.

The short girl was a bit hesitant to, but she accepted the gesture and shook his large hand. She turned off her camera and watched as the soldier stood up. She thought he was big before, but now that he was standing, she realized just how tall he was. He easily stood a whole head taller than his partner. He quickly finished the rest of his burger with two large bites before the two of them walked off.

As the two soldiers left, Kelsey's own meal arrived. The man behind the counter stated her number and placed the food on the counter. She looked at the meatball sub in front of her and contemplated what she just heard. That guy didn't seem too bad, but his partner seemed like a bit of an ass. She shook her head and put her phone away before she picked up her sub. Even though she had a lot she needed to get done for her documentary, she wanted to experience some pleasantries here in Johannesburg. So, she ate her food in solitude.


	2. Far from Home

Chapter 2: Far from Home

The revving of an engine was heard outside of one of the diners in Johannesburg. A solid black jeep with tinted windows and "MNU" printed in white on its sides took off down the road. Private Jim Faliks sat in the passenger seat, for he didn't trust himself with driving in a country with different road laws than Sweden. He had his window rolled down so he could rest his muscled arm outside against the car door and the breeze helped cool him down. With his other hand, he neatly fitted his sunglasses in front of his eyes and over his nose bridge. He let out a small sigh as he relaxed in his seat.

The one driving was his darker skinned partner. The bald man only had his window partially down and his eyes looked straight ahead at the road. The jeep's radio was only connected to MNU headquarters, so they couldn't listen to any music during the drive. Plus, the air conditioner was broken, so they had to rely on the rushing air as they drove in order to stay cool.

"You should not have talked to that girl." the man behind the wheel spoke after a little while.

"Why not, Veale? I didn't say anything against company policy." Jim questioned casually.

"Hey! At the district, you exclusively refer to me as Corporal Waltzmen." Veale sharply replied with a quick glare before he looked ahead at the road again. "Throughout the years, I've seen people get fired for all kinds of stupid things. And that includes saying the wrong things to tourists." he specified.

"Hm." the Swedish man hummed and went silent.

To Faliks, he said nothing wrong. There wasn't anything that he said that was against protocol. He even discouraged the girl from going to District 10. Of course, he understood that Veale was just looking out for his wellbeing, so he couldn't fault the guy for that. He just let out a soft sigh as he reached into his breast pocket. He pulled out a red inhaler and took the cap off. He held the inhaler up to his lips and deeply inhaled as he pressed the button on the top. With that accomplished, he placed the cap back on and slid the inhaler back into his pocket.

The two men remained silent for the remainder of the trip. Their jeep traveled right out of the city and it made it past a few militarized checkpoints. On the side of the road, there were numerous signs dissuading civilians from going anywhere near District 10, with threats of large fines and being jailed. A haze of heat seemed to rise from the dark gray road while dry dirt, brown and partially green plants, and plains branched out in all directions for as far as the eye could see. For a few minutes, they drove without speaking another word; even as they spotted the barbed wire fences and watchtowers in the distance. They had to stop at one last checkpoint at the front gate of the district. Armed men dressed in black quickly verified their identifications before they were finally allowed in the district.

'Walking around with all this black gear in the heat is gonna suck.' Jim thought to himself.

The vehicle drove into the district and followed the now dirt road into a parking lot with a few other vehicles that were parked, and dozens of soldiers were wandering around. Corporal Waltzmen turned off the jeep's engine before he opened his door and stepped out. Faliks followed suite and once he was out of the vehicle, he slammed the door shut and unslung his bullpup rifle. He looked down at the gun in his hands. Like every other soldier here, his weapon was the standard issue Vektor CR-21 assault rifle that was painted in all white to stand out from the South African army's usual black rifles. The private looked up at the corporal, who approached him with his own rifle resting on his shoulder, but he seemed fully alert despite his relaxed appearance.

Corporal Waltzmen simply nodded forward and Faliks looked over to where his superior was looking. Two men in the same uniforms as them approached the duo, their squad mates. Faliks easily recognized them, since he was formerly introduced to them as soon as he got the job to become a security solider within District 10. One of the approaching men was a simple private, like himself. His name was Private Mysibi, a native African with a round face and a small scar on his upper lip, right under his nose. He carried the same rifle as everyone else, but the barrel was slightly elongated and it had a detachable scope rather than fixed iron sights. The man seldom spoke unless it was necessary during drills, so Faliks couldn't really form an opinion on Private Mysibi, other than he was a hell of a shot. Jim remembered how Mysibi kept his rifle in semi auto mode and never missed a shot during target practice.

The other individual was their squad leader and sergeant. A middle aged man of European descent and he was referred to as Sergeant Schulz. For being middle aged, he was still in great shape and he had a neatly trimmed blonde mustache. From their training exercises back in the city, the sergeant was an excellent leader who always knew exactly what to do and what to say. And of course, he carried the same brand of firearm as everyone else. Painted white and all. He was friendly enough, but deep in the back of Jim's mind, he knew that there was something off about this man, but he couldn't quite place it. Almost like there was a sense of dread behind the man's friendly smile.

"Hello, Rook." the pale skinned sergeant greeted with a toothy grin.

Private Faliks wasn't really a fan of the nickname the sergeant had given him. It was supposed to be a more playful and lighthearted way of calling him a rookie, but such nicknames were probably inevitable for being so new to the force. He hoped that with more experience in the district, that nickname would be dropped.

"Sergeant." Jim simply nodded in respect.

"You're not afraid of your first day on the field, are ya? Don't worry; you'll be fine as long as you stay with the squad the whole time." Sergeant Schulz assured.

Their patrol routes have been practically drilled into the private's head since he was assigned to their squad. Their job was to patrol around the eastern half of the district and the immediate area outside the district on the east. They'd practically be hugging the fence the whole route, lest they were called in to assist somewhere else or they deemed it necessary to travel deeper into the district. Of course, they'd be the only mobile ground units, other than the few snipers at the watchtowers, in the immediate area, so they alone were responsible for maintaining the peace of a rather large area for only four men. It really surprised Faliks how isolated they were going to be, but the sergeant assured him that backup would always be a quick drive away, should things ever get bad.

Jim decided not to say anything, even as the sergeant patted him on the back. With that, the four men formed a diamond formation as they began to walk across the dirt parking lot. Sergeant Schulz was in the front, Jim on the left behind him with Corporal Waltzmen on the right, and Private Mysibi in the rear. Everyone else seemed to go about their business as the four men made their way past yet another checkpoint, this one on foot. The guards waved for them to continue inside. That was when they entered District 10 proper.

Private Faliks frowned as his blue eyes trailed this way and that. The air was dry and the sun beamed down at them. The entire area inside of the district seemed to be devoid of plant life. Dirt and sand seemed to be the only natural things within the barbed fences. There were large watchtowers along the fences with snipers constantly on the lookout for any trouble, but Jim noticed that a few of them didn't even seem to be paying attention. He even saw one of them asleep at his post. But when he pointed this out to the sergeant, he was simply told not to worry about it, which irritated the private a little.

Other than the watchtowers, there were a handful of metal buildings with several purposes in mind. Most of which were for the off duty personnel to relax and get out of the heat. There was one that was labeled as a medical center, but there was a sign next to the entrance that forbade non-humans from entering without an official MNU notice.

Looking to the left, Private Faliks watched as his squad walked past tent after tent. Each tent was made from white fabric and was no bigger than perhaps a garage that could store a single, small, vehicle. The flaps that served as the entrances to the tents were each labeled with a number in thick, black text. **112** , **113** , **114** , etc. He's been told that the non-humans dwelled in tents away from Johannesburg, but he never imagined that they were quite this small. He couldn't ever imagine living in such a small space. It looked like a camp for refugees, which in a way, it sort of was.

But that was when Faliks finally bore witness to what had to live in these small tents. One of the entrances to the tents was pushed aside as a tall figure exited the pitiful excuse for a home and into the sunlight. A tall insectoid creature stepped out from one of the tents, followed by two others. They kept their gazes away from the soldiers and their arms to their sides. One of the creatures let out a sort of coughing or barking sound as it crouched down and sped off away before Faliks could get a look at it. The remaining creatures stood on two legs and wore scarce amounts of clothes. One of them was even wearing nothing but men's boxers. It would've been funny if the creatures didn't look so miserable and fearful.

Jim scoffed softly. Not at the creatures themselves, but that fact that three creatures that towered over most people had to live in one small space. He slowly shook his head and adjusted his sunglasses before he looked elsewhere. Even if they lived in unfavorable environments, he'd do his best to protect them. For that was all he's wanted to do with his life.

After seeing the three creatures, the private saw more and more of the non-humans. Most of them didn't bat an eye at the four soldiers and went about their daily lives. Others glanced at them, but otherwise kept to themselves. A few of them were rummaging through trash or chewing on car tires. It amazed Jim just how filthy this place was.

After several minutes of walking, Sergeant Schulz held up his fist, signaling for everyone to stop. He mumbled something into his radio as they all looked ahead. There was a non-human not far ahead. The creature was sitting in the dirt with its arms wrapped around its legs, like a lost child. The non-human was sitting right next to the fence and looking out at the world outside the district. Jim knew that this creature wasn't doing anything wrong, but the sergeant was looking directly at it.

"Hey, you! Get the fuck away from the fence!" Sergeant Schulz boomed as he aimed his rifle at the creature.

The non-human's head shot up at the sound of the yelling and it looked up at the soldiers. Its yellow eyes were wide like a deer's in headlights. Private Mysibi and Corporal Waltzmen also aimed their rifles and the three men quickly approached the clearly frightened creature. The corporal looked over his shoulder at Jim and motioned for him to follow them. Private Faliks was very confused, but he approached the alien too, but he kept his rifle lowered.

"I said get away from the fucking fence!" the sergeant roared.

Sergeant Schulz reared back and suddenly slammed the butt of his gun against the non-human's forehead. The creature shrieked in pain as it fell back and clasped its three fingered hands over its upper its face, just above its yellow eyes. Three out of the four soldiers had their guns trained on the alien and it breathed heavily as it looked up at them all.

"I'm sorry! I was only looking!" the creature clicked, but it let out a guttural grunt when the sergeant stomped on its face.

"You were planning to escape. That's what you were fuckin' doing!" the sergeant accused with a hateful glare.

Jim's eyes were wide behind his sunglasses. During his time with this squad, Schulz always seemed like such a friendly and laid back guy, but now he was acting like a completely different person. Jim looked down at the non-human and he could see red blood sliding down its light brown exoskeleton. It wasn't even wearing any clothes and he could see that one of its antennas was broken in half. This thing was certainly a victim of abuse on more than one occasion. Maybe it was because he didn't have much exposure to these creatures, but he pitied this alien.

"Admit it! You were trying to escape!" Sergeant Schulz yelled and Private Mysibi kicked the alien's side.

"No! I'm sorry!" the creature clicked and held up one of its hands in an unthreatening manner.

"Sergeant, I think it's being honest with us." Private Faliks quickly spoke up.

Sergeant Schulz quickly looked over at the Swedish man; his gray eyes looking into Jim's glasses, where his eyes were hidden. For just a moment, the sergeant seemed to sneer, but he quickly adopted a neutral expression before scoffing.

"There's something you should know about this place, Rook. Sometimes, you gotta bend the rules just a little bit to do the right thing. If we left this fucking prawn alone, it would've tried to cut through the wires or dig under the fence. And even if it is telling the truth, then our actions now will discourage others from trying to leave." he explained with a calm sounding voice.

"I will report you if you harm that non-human again." Jim said seriously with a frown.

"You'll report me." the sergeant murmured as he shook his head and even laughed a little. "Fine. Fine. It's your first day in District 10. I can see you need more time around here to understand how things work." he smiled innocently.

After saying that, the sergeant lowered his rifle. The other two soldiers did the same and the non-human dumbly looked at everyone as its forehead bled. Now ignoring the alien, the sergeant fully turned around to face Jim. His smile melted into a frown and he walked right up to the private.

"There is one thing I think you need to understand. This isn't Sweden and you're not a cop. Be thankful MNU hired your wheezing ass." he almost growled with breath that smelled of cigarettes.

Sergeant Schulz walked past Jim at that moment and Private Mysibi followed close behind. Corporal Waltzmen sighed softly and gave Jim a look, as if telling him they'd talk about this later. Private Faliks just glared at the ground as he repeated the squad leader's words over and over again in his mind. He shook his head and walked up to the alien, who was still lying in the filthy dirt. The creature flinched as he held his hand out while he held the barrel of his rifle with his other hand.

"Let me help you up." the private offered.

Those yellow, frightened eyes looked up at the man before it hesitantly clasped his strong hand. Jim easily lifted the creature up to its clawed feet. It hunched over a little and took a few steps away from the humans. Even while it stood hunched over, he could tell this creature was tall. If it were to stand straight up, it'd almost be a head taller than him.

"Thank you. You are a good human." it spoke in that clicking language all non-humans spoke in.

Immediately after saying that, the brown non-human turned around and sprinted off and out of sight. Jim watched the creature leave before he turned to look at Corporal Waltzmen. The corporal just looked at him with a straight face before he started walking to catch up with their two partners. Even if they didn't approve of his actions, Jim was proud of himself for stepping up for that alien. He was still pissed at the sergeant though. With a heavy sigh, he began to follow the corporal while he inwardly hoped that no other incidents like that would occur that day.

* * *

Later that day in Johannesburg, Kelsey had managed to find a hotel not too far away from town hall. From her room's window, she could even see MNU headquarters in the distance. That wasn't an issue however. If anything, it'd help with setup shots for her documentary. Of course, throughout the entire day, her parents had been texting and calling her nonstop, but it seemed that they finally accepted that she wasn't coming back home right away, but they made her promise to call them at least twice a day to make sure that she was safe and alright.

The young woman had just gotten off the phone with her parents, where they gave her the ground rules about calling them. Right now, she had her phone's charger plugged into her laptop, where she was downloading the video files onto her computer. After she spoke to that MNU soldier and she had her lunch, she decided to interview a few other random people on the street. She asked them questions related to their opinions about the non-humans and District 10 itself. The opinion towards the non-humans, or prawns, as the citizens liked to call them, was exclusively negative. The prawns were called monsters and they defended their opinions by comparing the aliens to terrorists and extremists.

Kelsey wasn't sure how to feel about everyone's harsh opinions on the non-humans. She sighed and rubbed her chin as she thought things over. Sure, she was only in the city for half a day, but the city seemed completely stable with little to no evidence of acts of terrorism. But some of the random people she interviewed swore that all of the prawns wanted nothing more than to kill every human they could. Some even warned Kelsey not to attempt to meet them if she valued her life.

The public opinion on District 10 seemed to be split in half however. Some people felt that the prawns deserved to be locked in the district, while the others felt that District 10 wasn't secure enough, considering the alleged terrorist attacks conducted by the non-humans. It was when she asked how people thought the situation could be improved where the answers seemed to be all over the place.

"They should just kill all the prawns. Fuck 'em."

"We need to force the prawns to live on an island somewhere far away. So they can't hurt anyone else."

"Send the prawns to war. Have them fight our battles for us."

That was just some of the answers she received that day. Kelsey came to the conclution that no one could agree on anything when it came to the issue of the non-humans. It was crazy to her though since everyone she interviewed seemed like a friendly and reasonable person, but whenever anything related to the non-humans were brought up, they seemed to change into almost hostile individuals. Times like this made her wish she took psychology class in high school. Maybe then, she could make sense of this.

The downloading was complete and all the video files had been saved into her laptop. She took the charger off her phone at that moment and she let out a sigh as she leaned her head back so her dark hair hung downwards. As much as she wished she could swoop in and save all the non-humans by herself, she had to convince herself that that would be impossible. All she could do was bring awareness to the situation. Maybe millions of people working on the same issue could come up with a good solution. And then she could fulfill her promise to Christopher.

The short girl decided to look over at the electric clock on the nightstand at that moment. The clock read that it was now six in the afternoon. She found it crazy how different time zones could be, for it was eleven in the morning at home. Getting used to the different time in South Africa would be difficult, but she knew that she couldn't sleep normally even while she was here.

In order for her documentary to have any merit to it, she needed to get some information from the side of the non-humans. But in order to do that, she needed to get inside of District 10, and there was no doubt in her mind that the district was well guarded and she wouldn't be allowed inside. She decided early on that she'd attempt to sneak into the district in the early hours of the morning, for most of the guards would hopefully be asleep or drowsy. And if anything, the night itself would help her sneak around without being spotted.

Kelsey closed her laptop after turning it off and she placed it on the nightstand, next to the clock. As she began to undress, she thought over her plan. She'd go to District 10 early tomorrow, mostly to scope the area out and determine just how tight the security would be. She wasn't even sure if she'd even be able to get in, but she had to try.

Once undressed, the young woman took some of her insomnia medication before she placed the pill bottle back into her bag. She climbed into her bed and slid the covers over herself. She stared up at the ceiling for a short while, just like how she's done since she first visited that website almost a decade ago. This was going to be one of the hardest things she'd ever have to do in her life, but if she didn't do this, then how long would it take before someone did, if ever? She let out one last sigh before she closed her brown eyes to try to get some rest.


End file.
